Samuel Silva - Photorealism Portraits

Its hard to believe that these pieces are in fact hand drawn and not photographs! These incredible illustrations are the work of portugal based Samuel Silva. Amazingly, art is his hobby and not his main profession. His pieces are drawn with coloured ball point pens, and he uses the technique of cross hatching layers to 'blend' the colours and create a photo realistic style. The drawings can take up to 50 hours to produce! I wish I had enough patience to practice his style of drawing as it is so stunning. You can see more of Samuel Silva's work here http://vianaarts.deviantart.com/gallery/.

Photorealistic

When I first saw these images I assumed they were photographs taken with a blue filter. Even after a closer look I still did not believe they were hand drawn with a biro. Yes a BIRO! Its unbelievable, they look so realistic! Juan Francisco Casas is a spanish artist and his breathtaking pieces of work have been exhibited all over the world. Each image is around 10ft high and can take up to four ball point biro pens to draw! His inspiration comes from his own photographs of nights out with his firends.

You can see his website here http://www.juanfranciscocasas.com/

Also check out my friend Bex Harmen, she is also a very talented artist drawing with biros. I wish I could draw!